Development of low-cost and easy-to-deploy sensing systems to support movement detection in a home or another building has been an active research area. Much of the development has centered on the deployment of a network of inexpensive sensors throughout the home, such as motion detectors or simple contact switches. Although these solutions are cost-effective on an individual sensor basis, they are not without some important drawbacks that limit the likelihood of eventual commercial success through broad consumer acceptance.
Commonly used sensors for detecting human activity in the home include high-fidelity sensors such as visible light and infrared (IR) cameras or microphones, as well as low-fidelity sensors such as passive infrared (PIR) motion detectors and floor weight sensors. High-fidelity distributed direct sensing has a long history of use in activity detection and classification research, primarily focused on computer vision or machine learning systems that capture the movement of people in spaces. The use of these high fidelity sensors in certain spaces often raises concerns about the balance between value-added services and acceptable surveillance, particularly in home settings. Low-fidelity, distributed direct sensing systems use of a large collection of simple, low cost sensors, such as motion detectors, pressure mats, break beam sensors, and contact switches.
All distributed direct sensing approaches share the advantages and disadvantages of placing each sensor in close proximity to where human activity occurs. For example, commonly used cameras or PIR sensors require a clear line of sight to the desired room coverage area. That is, the person being sensed will be able to see the camera or PIR sensor. Generally, cameras or PIR sensors when deployed on walls, on ceilings, or above a door have adverse aesthetics effects on the area around where the cameras or PIR sensors are deployed. Furthermore, the large number of sensors required for coverage of an entire building presents an inherent complexity hurdle. Installation and maintenance of (typically) tens of sensors in a home, or hundreds to thousands of sensors in a larger building such as a hotel, hospital, or assisted living facility, results in high costs during installation and operation.
It is often difficult to balance the value of in-home sensing and the complexity of the sensing infrastructure. One example that illustrates this difficulty is the Digital Family Portrait system, a peace of mind application for communicating well-being information from an elderly person's home to a remote caregiver. In the system's deployment study, movement data was gathered from a collection of strain sensors attached to the underside of the first floor of an elder's home. The installation of these sensors was difficult, time-consuming, and required direct access to the underside of the floor. Though the value of the application was proven, the complexity and cost of the sensing limited the number of homes in which the system could be deployed easily.
Accordingly, a need or potential for benefit exists for an apparatus and/or method that allows detection of movement events without the high cost and installation complexity of currently available motion detection systems and methods.
For simplicity and clarity of illustration, the drawing figures illustrate the general manner of construction, and descriptions and details of well-known features and techniques may be omitted to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the invention. Additionally, elements in the drawing figures are not necessarily drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention. The same reference numerals in different figures denote the same elements.
The terms “first,” “second,” “third,” “fourth,” and the like in the description and in the claims, if any, are used for distinguishing between similar elements and not necessarily for describing a particular sequential or chronological order. It is to be understood that the terms so used are interchangeable under appropriate circumstances such that the embodiments described herein are, for example, capable of operation in sequences other than those illustrated or otherwise described herein. Furthermore, the terms “include,” and “have,” and any variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, system, article, device, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements is not necessarily limited to those elements, but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, system, article, device, or apparatus.
The terms “left,” “right,” “front,” “back,” “top,” “bottom,” “over,” “under,” and the like in the description and in the claims, if any, are used for descriptive purposes and not necessarily for describing permanent relative positions. It is to be understood that the terms so used are interchangeable under appropriate circumstances such that the embodiments of the invention described herein are, for example, capable of operation in other orientations than those illustrated or otherwise described herein.
The terms “couple,” “coupled,” “couples,” “coupling,” and the like should be broadly understood and refer to connecting two or more elements or signals, electrically, mechanically and/or otherwise. Two or more electrical elements may be electrically coupled but not be mechanically or otherwise coupled; two or more mechanical elements may be mechanically coupled, but not be electrically or otherwise coupled; two or more electrical elements may be mechanically coupled, but not be electrically or otherwise coupled. Coupling may be for any length of time, e.g., permanent or semi-permanent or only for an instant.
“Electrical coupling” and the like should be broadly understood and include coupling involving any electrical signal, whether a power signal, a data signal, and/or other types or combinations of electrical signals. “Mechanical coupling” and the like should be broadly understood and include mechanical coupling of all types. The absence of the word “removably,” “removable,” and the like near the word “coupled,” and the like does not mean that the coupling, etc. in question is or is not removable.